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From riches to religion:

A professor’s story of monasteries, road trips and a growing passion for education Will Peischel @CPMustangArts

The Holy Mountain commands the peninsula; it keeps constant watch over the Aegean Sea, where Turks and Greeks bicker over territorial bounds. The grey mountain rejects creeping Mediterranean greens, only kept company by 20 Eastern Orthodox monastic fortresses that tease cliff edges and protrude into the sea air. There is no electricity on the isolated peninsula — murals of saints and simple work desks are illuminated by candlelight while monks live humbly. Stephen Lloyd-Moffett came to the rock by ferry like anybody else who visits the ancient enclave of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He was 20, on a semester abroad, taking the chance to finally explore his interest in Greek philosophy and customs. Plus, Greece was sun-

ny. So when an opportunity came for a field trip to an isolated monastic community, Lloyd-Moffett bit — mostly because it was a free trip. He had no idea the trip would permanently alter his life. Today, the professor and religious studies minor adviser is the only person on Cal Poly’s campus who looks right wearing a scarf; coupled with his fiery red curls and glasses, the sum is somehow a humble demeanor. He looks to that monastery trip as the spark that ignited his religious studies career. “We entered into the (first) monastery and there was a monk there, and he said, ‘Welcome. I’m glad you’re here,’ and that was it,” Lloyd-Moffett said. He paused, then continued: “He turned around. He had this aura about him, and my friend and I, we were just awestruck by him. He didn’t say anything deep — but he had this joy that sort of exuded out and enveloped you. Neither of us had ever been in someone’s presence like this.”

see SLM, pg 6.

JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NE WS COEXIST

| After a cross-continental road trip and a revelation in a Greek Orthodox Monastery, Stephen Lloyd-Moffett went on to earn three degrees in religion and found Cal Poly’s religious studies minor.

St. Fratty’s Day party not associated with greek life, fraternity presidents say

JOSPEH PACK | MUSTANG NE WS FORUM

| Armstrong, Humphrey and Sullivan will host a forum Thursday on party culture at Cal Poly.

President Armstrong, city officials respond to roof collapse Samantha Pryor @sammpryor

The university is currently gathering facts on the events of last Saturday’s St. Fatty’s Day roof collapse, as well as working to incorporate student dialogue into the investigation, according to Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong. “We’re discussing appropriate venues where we can foster discussion and healthy debate if needed,” he said. “Only the students can really make a difference. I believe our

students will rally.” The university will be holding a forum to discuss the incident on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Recreation Center’s Multi-Activity Center. Armstrong, Vice President for Student Affairs Keith Humphrey and ASI President Joi Sullivan will lead the forum. Because the event was an of f-campus unregistered party, the university awaits confirmation whether or not Greek life organizations were involved before taking further action.

“We will try to learn what happened and then we will go from there,” he said. “We don’t have the facts. We are still collecting information.” The Greek life investigation falls under the Dean of Students Jean DeCosta and Humphrey. A request to inter view Humphrey was declined by the university and directed to university spokesperson Matt Lazier.

see FORUM, pg 2.

MUSTANG NE WS FILE PHOTO NOT US

| Some presidents said the party wouldn’t have gotten had been a registered greek event.

Leah Horner & Benjy Egel @leahlingo & @BenjyEgel

The presidents of various Cal Poly fraternities voiced their responses to the St. Fratty’s Day party where a roof collapsed and injured nine people at Monday evening’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) meeting. Many presidents felt greeks should not be blamed for the event, as it was open to the community and was not a registered IFC party. IFC president and kinesiology and communications senior Alex Horncliff noted that a number of uninvited guests came from out of town.

“We didn’t provide any alcohol, we didn’t provide any infrastructure. There were a lot of people there who didn’t even go to Cal Poly,” Horncliff said. Alpha Gamma Rho president and soil science junior Brad Kurtz mentioned that, in addition to the non-Cal Poly students, there were also student representatives from other on-campus organizations who ought to be held to the same standard as greeks.

see IFC, pg 3.

Cal Poly women’s basketball upset in quarterfinals by Cal State Fullerton Mustang News Staff Report @CPMustangSports

CHRISTA LAM | MUSTANG NE WS ONE AND DONE | Junior guard Beth Balbierz contributed two points and two rebounds in the Mustangs’ loss.

In one of the sloppier games of the season, the Cal Poly women’s basketball team was eliminated from the Big West Tournament by No. 7 seed Cal State Fullerton, losing 55-48 in Titan Gym. Turnovers were the downfall of the Mustangs, who committed 16 over the course of the game. The Titans capitalized on the opportunities, scoring 15 points off of Cal Poly’s mistakes. Forty-eight points is the Mustangs’ lowest score of season. Cal Poly shot 29 percent from the floor — the worst it has shot this year. Both teams played poorly — Cal State Fullerton only shot 33 percent. The two teams combined went 6-for-

32 from 3-point range, with the Mustangs sinking four of those. Cal Poly made a comeback at the end, pulling within three points with less than two minutes to play. But the Titans converted on the majority of their free throws, while the Mustangs were unable to sink a 3. Senior forward Taryn Garza finished with a double-double, dropping in a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Ariana Elegado finished with 12 points, while senior guard Kristen Ale finished with six. The loss marks the end of Cal Poly’s season and the last game for Elegado, Ale and Garza. All three seniors earn All-Big West Conference honors in their final season. The Mustangs finish with an overall record of 15-14.

News... 1-5 | Arts... 6-7 | Opinion... 9 | Classifieds... 10 | Sports... 8, 12

Thursday, March 12, 2015

NEWS | 2 FORUM continued from pg 1. Aside from examining Panhellenic and IFC involvement, Cal Poly has been working closely with the San Luis Obispo City government. Armstrong is encouraging the city to take action and change ordinances to prevent similar situations from happening in the future. San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx has said she plans to bring up an ordinance banning gathering on rooftops. The ordinance will need to be drafted by city staff, and both the public and city council members will have to weigh in before the ordinance moves forward, Marx said. Marx said the city currently only has an ordinance against having

furniture on rooftops. “I’m concerned about safety,” Marx said.

We are looking to enforce our current ordinances that are investigating a variety of issues related to what occurred on Saturday morning MICHAEL CODRON

Assistant City Manager Michael Codron is considering a wide range of aspects in order to make it clear to students and other members of the community that this type of behavior is unacceptable.

“We are looking to enforce our current ordinances that are investigating a variety of issues related to what occurred on Saturday morning,” he said. “We do expect to be following up with those responsible with what is allowed under the law.” Revising ordinances and enacting additional regulations will be put on hold until the next city council meeting on March 17, Codron said, where officials will provide direction and authority in creating new regulations. Until then, the city is looking at other code violations in and around the property to make sure the environment is safe for residents in that area. Kyle McCarty contributed to this article.

| The roof collapsed just after 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. SLO Fire was on the scene soon after.

Thursday, March 12, 2015 IFC continued from pg 1. “Campus is almost trying to pin this on us … I saw people on sports teams; I saw club sports; I saw clubs in general,” Kurtz said. Many presidents said if greeks had not been on social probation, the partying would have been more spaced out and fewer people would have been at the congested event. Delta Chi president and mechanical engineering senior Alex Campbell said that no matter what, students will drink, and the most regulated place to do so is a fraternity party. Fraternities are required to register all parties with the school. Drinking games, hard alcohol and beer bongs are not permitted at parties. Many fraternities have “sober bros” to be designated drivers on weekends. We should be working on having safe fraternity parties rather than taking them away, Campbell said. “I guarantee you if (a roof collapsed) at one of your parties, every single person would have been running trying to help

out,” he said. When the roof collapsed, IFC Vice President of Judicial Affairs and communications senior Luke McDade said some greek members ran toward the wreckage and began pulling people out. Others began clearing bystanders away from the destroyed house, pushing people into the street away from injured people. “I p e rs ona l ly am proud of a lot of guys in this room. A lot of you guys were actually doing something to help, unlike people who were just standing around taking videos,” McDade said. “I’m personally proud to be a greek member after seeing what you guys did and how you reacted that day.” IFC emailed Vice President for Student Affairs Keith Humphrey immediately after the collapse to let him know the party was not a greek event. Humphrey responded saying it raised concerns based off of IFC’s ability to hold responsible events since there were many greek leaders present, as seen

NEWS | 3 on Facebook and through pictures and videos from the event. Fraternity and Sorority Life coordinator Kathryn O’Hagan

and sorority members are trying to deflect responsibility for their actions. With a name like St. Fratty’s Day,

If I have to see another impaled leg with a giant splinter this year, I’m going to freak out...Does it take someone dying for you to get it?” CHRISTINE WALLACE NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH MANAGER

said administrators she spoke with had a split view of who should be held responsible for the party. Some see greek life being pinned for an independent party, while others think fraternity

people naturally associate the party with fraternities, and it was in fact started by one. Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) founded the event back around 2006 at 364 Hathway Ave., where it was held on

Saturday, according to Horncliff. Sig Ep was disaffiliated from Cal Poly before the start of the 2011-12 academic year because of alcohol-related violations, but old members continued to live in some of their satellite houses, including those on Hathway. There are no longer members living at the “pink house,” around which the party occurred on Saturday, Horncliff said. “This is the first year that Sig Ep isn’t here and isn’t throwing it. But that house is historically known for doing it, regardless of the occupants,” he said. “And so whoever lived there probably realized that people were going to congregate there with no reliable way to stop them with anything short of putting a barricade in front of the house.” Residents of the house boarded up windows and put a sign up reading “No Roof ” on Saturday. The roof that collapsed was on an adjacent property. Delta Sigma Phi (DSP) president and business administration senior Derek Morefield said Cal Poly students as a whole were to blame for how the party got out of control, not just greek

life. Members of fraternities and sororities who attended the party Saturday should share an equal burden with the other Cal Poly students who were there. “What would this have looked like if everyone had registered their own St. Patrick’s Day event? I guarantee you the roof wouldn’t have collapsed,” Morefield said. “It’s up to us to see how we can party safer.” City of San Luis Obispo Neighborhood Outreach Manager Christine Wallace spoke at the beginning of the meeting, saying she was “disappointed, sad and a little emotional” at the chaos on Saturday morning. While Wallace acknowledged that fraternity and sorority members were not the only people at the party, she said the houses could have done more to prevent it from getting so crazy, like pushing brothers and sisters not to attend. She beseeched fraternity presidents to step up as leaders and stop out-of-control partying at Cal Poly before things get worse. “If I have to see another impaled leg with a giant splinter this year, I’m going to freak out,” Wallace said. “Does it take someone dying for you to get it? Because the behavior we saw this weekend says yes.”

Thursday, March 12, 2015

NEWS | 4

Paper professor evaluations may become thing of the past

JASON HUNG | MUSTANG NE WS DIGITAL SWITCH

| Cal Poly is trying out the use of online professor evaluations, which could replace print versions as soon as Fall 2015. Associate Vice Provost Albert Liddicoat will determine their value.

Karen Garcia Special to Mustang News

Professor evaluations are transitioning to an online program if two trials are passed, one during spring quarter and the next in the fall.

The entire university might be taking online evaluations if both trials check out. “Currently, most of the CSUs are assessing it; it’s just a matter of time until probably everyone is online, especially with the new generation of students that work effectively

with technology,” said Associate Vice Provost Albert Liddicoat. If the trials are successful he said that by Fall 2015 the university might be in the position to launch the online evaluations. These online evaluations will be administered online after a few trials of the program are given to a select number of professors and their classes.

The first trial of classes that will go through the online evaluations were administered last week. Liddicoat said that by assessing the response rate and the scores from the evaluations, there is the possibility that spring quarter online evaluations will be administered to an entire college. Liddicoat and other administrators will be closely watching this

process, as professor evaluations are important to not only the professors, but also the students helping the department to better assess their professors. He said these evaluations are meant to help a professor grow in any areas that need improvement. Liddicoat said many professors who are starting to teach at Cal Poly usually need the

evaluations because they lack experience teaching to a room full of students. “A lot of people come out of PhD programs where they do a lot of research but might not have a lot of experience in teaching,” he said.

see ONLINE, pg 5.

Thursday, March 12, 2015 ONLINE continued from pg 4. The first few terms for a new professor can be a little shaky, but with the help of the department and the student’s evaluations, professors will fix the kinks in their teaching style. Liddicoat said there are a few options to help a professor improve on teaching their course. “We provide a mentorship from the department chair and there’s also the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology,” he said. “At the center they’ll do assessments and come to class to watch the professor present.” The Center for Teaching, L earning and Technolog y (CTLT) provides this service to the professor if he or she would like assistance. The CTLT will review the student evaluations, observe the professor in class and interpret what changes could be made to better the curriculum the professor is using to teach their students. Sociology sophomore Tina Owyang said she takes professors evaluations seriously because she hopes to help the department assess how professors can better their class curriculum. “I think they give a good reflection on how the student views the teacher and in turn it can help the teacher to better their course for future quarters,” she said. Owyang also said that the e valuations give the students an opportunity to voice their opinions. “I feel that it’s beneficial for not only us, the students, but also for the staff,” she said. One of the first California State Universities to do their professor evaluations online was San Diego State University. “They actually studied it and looked at both response rates and value,” Liddicoat said. “They found that there wasn’t a big sig-

nificant difference in online versus paper when the evaluations were done well.” As Cal Poly moves in the online evaluations direction, Liddicoat said that the first step is to make the online evaluation questions as similar to those on paper as the first trial. The next factor to take into consideration is whether students will respond to online evaluations as they did with inclass paper evaluations. “That’s kind of the fear and unknown, if you implement a new program and response rates go down,” Liddicoat said. Other campuses have come up with different ways to remind students to take their evaluations and Liddicoat said there are four ideas that have been tossed around. • An email notif ication will go out to the students to remind them to take the online evaluation. • An iPhone or Android app can be created to send students push notifications. • A notification can be administered through PolyLearn. • Students won’t be allowed to go through PolyLearn or the Student Center to see their grades until they take the evaluations. Associate Professor of Political Science Matthew Moore believes that the switch from pencil to keyboards was an obvious choice. “Doing these evaluations online seems perfectly obvious,” Moore said. “It saves a huge amount of paper, a huge amount of time and makes the data much easier to manage.” The move to online evaluations is a great idea to Moore but he hopes the responses won’t be similar to those of PolyRatings. “It’s either people that love the professor or hate the professor and not a whole lot of people in the middle because why bother,” he said. “It’s only going to be a handful of people and it’s only going to be the motivated.” Another aspect Moore is concerned about is whether or not

NEWS | 5 the evaluation program will be user friendly for other types of devices in addition to computers. “If the evaluations were happening online I can still set aside time in class and say okay everyone bust out your phone, laptop, tablet whatever, I’m going to go in the hall and please do the evaluations,” Moore said. The last thought that Moore had was how these evaluations would best match alternatives classes such as online courses or hybrid courses. Moore teaches a one unit political science course, (POLS 111) for students who took Advanced Placement Government and Unites State History and trying to fulfill a GE D1 requirement. His course meets in person a few times but most of the student work is done online. “The form that we use to evaluate in the political science department is irrelevant to this class,” he said. Moore said that the questions on the evaluation were meant for a physical classroom and the end result is “crazy answers”. Moore hopes that the online evaluations will be a little more flexible to different types of classes so that answers received from students can actually be used for bettering the classroom and learning experience.

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ARTS | 6 SLM continued from pg 1.

JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NE WS FROM MONEY TO MONKS

| Lloyd-Moffett left his business career to study and teach about religion.

That moment prompted LloydMoffett, then a business student, to ask several questions about the monk’s lifestyle. “We spent a little bit more time with him,” he said. “We were like, ‘I think this is the first truly happy person I’ve ever met.’ I didn’t know that this was what was possible in life.” Lloyd-Moffett spent a few more days with the monks. It was his first experience with Greek Orthodox Christianity, and it made an impression. “I came out of that and started to re-evaluate how I was seeing America because in my view so much of America had said, ‘In order to be happy, you’re supposed to have a career, make money, have a family,’ all of this sort of stuff,” Lloyd-Moffett said. “Here’s somebody who was generally happy who didn’t do any of those things.” Lloyd-Moffett returned to the United States with a new mindset on the semantics of happiness. Initially, it didn’t change how he lived. He proceeded to enter the world of business, where he excelled and enjoyed himself. His work included Universal Music; the New Zealand Dairy Board; the workers’ compensation system for Victoria, Australia; and providing a helping hand in the world’s first Internet study. Lloyd-Moffett saw a business career as a game of sorts, which is why he excelled — and also why he stopped. “Games are really fun,” he said. “I like playing basketball or I like playing games. You just don’t want to spend your whole life on it. With that, my roommate and I were like, ‘We need a journey to figure out life.’ And so we picked a place, which was Tierra del Fuego, and we were just going to head south.” With that, they embarked on a road trip to the bottom of the

new world. They instated only two rules for the journey: they would only leave a place when they were both ready, and south was the only direction they would go. Almost a year and $8,000 later, they reached the archipelago that overlooks the rendezvous of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans on the foot of Chile and Argentina. There, they found their answer. “We got as far south as we could drive and we’re like, ‘Why did we do this?’” Lloyd-Moffett said, laughing. “Like most young people trying to figure out life, we just said, ‘Let’s drink all night.’ One of the things we sort of realized at this epic ending of this journey was in the end, it was just a place to go. It’s just the end of the road, but what was meaningful was all of the adventures we had on the way. The times we got arrested, the times we broke down, the times when we broke up with women in our lives and got together with new ones and broke up with them. All the times we were sick, all of that stuff, those are the trials you do on such an epic journey.” Today, decades later, LloydMoffett still has the 1981 Toyota Landcruiser that took him on that journey. Upon his return to real life, Lloyd-Moffett racked up three additional degrees and two trips back to the Greek monks before sinking into teaching. While finishing a dissertation for a PhD from UC Santa Barbara, he helped revitalize the religious studies program at CSU Bakersfield. Then it was time for something new. He recalled: “My partner and I said at the time, ‘Hey. Where would you ever want to go?’ I was into wine and we’re from Washington. So it was either Walla Walla or San Luis Obispo.” San Luis Obispo had a job opening.

In 2005, Lloyd-Moffett came to Cal Poly, where he was given the task of constructing the religious studies minor. The track remains under the radar — but since its humble beginnings of a single student choosing in the minor, the program has evolved to a healthy 75 students. Among his students, LloydMoffett is held in high regard as a fascinating, relentless lecturer. According to graduate biological sciences student Naiyerah Kolkailah, his classes aren’t for the faint of heart — but there’s a pay off. “He’s a very challengin g professor,” Kolkailah said. “The courses aren’t really easy, and there’s a lot of understanding and historical basis and things you have to really spend time learning and understanding. I think that’s important, because a lot of times when we interact with peoples’ faith or understanding of peoples’ different ways of life and religion, it can be very superficial and very shallow.” To ensure an objective attitude toward all faiths, Lloyd-Moffett has adopted an “agnostic” approach to each religion he teaches in the classroom. This has led to speculation among his students about his own faith. For a man so filled with spiritual knowledge, the enigmatic approach is his weapon of choice. “You wouldn’t even know what faith he was, and I didn’t know for the longest time,” said Kolkailah, who’s completed the minor. “But he would present from within the faith, as if he was part of that faith, by showing how the people who live that experience actually practiced their own faith without trying to shame it or show negatives or really push for it.” One of Lloyd-Moffett’s many passions is early Christian her-

see SLM, pg 7.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

ARTS | 7

Toro y Moi to give SLO Brew ‘New Beat’ Lauren Piraro Special to Mustang News

Toro y Moi will play at SLO Bre w ing C o. on March 25 as part of his North American tour. The South Carolina native, whose birth name is Chazwick Bundick, is most notably associated with the electronic “chillwave” movement and is set to release his next album, “What For?,” on April 7. The album’s newest single, “Buffalo,” premiered a week ago and provided fans with a sneak peak into his forthcoming album’s musical aesthetics. Construction management senior Jacob Ruiz said he is considering attending the show, adding that “New Beat” and “Say That” are some of his

SLM continued from pg 6. mitism and in extension, asceticism, or the abstinence from self-indulgence in pursuit of a religious goal. On his successive returns to Mount Athos, he lived with the cave monks, who consider even the lives of the monastic monks on the peninsula “lavish.” Currently, Lloyd-Moffett lives in The Lavra, a miniature community that takes cues from Palestinian communal living. The housing experiment upholds a shared space and community-focus as cornerstones without going against the flow of contemporary living. Each tenant has a private abode, with a community house and farm to provide for the property. When English junior Harrison Trubitt drove up a road flanked by eucalyptus trees on either side for a dinner at his professor’s home, he didn’t know what to expect.

Also scheduled to perform is current favorite songs from Toro y Moi. Vinyl Williams, an electronic “My roommates showed him psyche-pop Los Angeles-based to me a couple years ago, and band that has toured with Toro only recently did I start to lis- y Moi once before in 2012. ten to him more,” he said. The show is open to all ages. Ruiz said he appreciates Toro Tickets can be purchased at y Moi’s creativity and subtle TicketFly.com for $18-$20. references to different musical styles of the past and present. “ He p r o d u c e s c re at ive s ong s with sounds that Check out throw back to other music ages Toro y Moi’s music at in a new way,” he explains. “I love MustangNews.net it when I find an electronic artist that can fuse with funk or R&B or some other genre, and Toro y Moi does just that.” “You’re in the middle of nowhere and then you go up a dirt hill and see these Nepal prayer flags and you think, ‘Well, this is probably where we’re going,’” Trubitt said. As far as Trubitt knew, LloydMoffett lived alone. Trubitt entered a large, well-furnished house and began enjoying a dinner with the rest of Lloyd-Moffett’s guests when things took a sudden turn. “The lights go out and these four 25-year-old women come out of nowhere and are like, ‘Stephen! You used all the well water!’” Trubitt said. “And we’re like, ‘What is going on? This makes no sense.’ So then he explained to us the community.” Lloyd-Moffett gave them the tour, including of the small living quarters he built for himself, rectangular in shape, the single room uses an entire wall as a door; the 20-foot glass sheet gives the impression of a bath-

room shower. “Everyone else on the property lives in yurts,” Trubitt said. “I’ll never forget that he talked about how far away his neighbors lived based off of number of trees away they lived. It was kind of crazy.” According to Lloyd-Moffett, The Lavra hasn’t been perfect, but it’s sustainable, alternative and rooted in a degree of asceticism that helps guide to happiness. Like everything else about the man, he’s probably given it a considerable amount of quiet thought. The Lavra may be Lloyd-Moffett’s preferred abode for the moment, but someone who’s traveled to over 45 countries is nomadic in nature. For now, his students are just happy the wisdom, scarf and tranquil voice are just a few trees away. Concerning his personal faith, you’ll just have to take a class and make a guess like the rest of his students.

CREATIVE COMMONS CHILL | Toro y Moi released a single entitled “Buffalo” last week off his new album, slated to drop on April 7.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

SPORTS | 8

Errors prove fatal for baseball against San Jose State Mustang News Staff Report @CPMustangSports

Days after its first series win against Pacific, the Cal Poly baseball team was unable to defeat San Jose State following another error-filled game. In the second inning, the Spartans took advantage of a two-out error and scored four runs on their way to a 5-2 victory. An infield error and a line drive off of senior third baseman Tommy Pluschkell’s glove loaded the bases, which were subsequently cleared by a triple off the bat of San Jose State’s Andre Mercurio. Errors leading to unearned runs have been a theme for the Mustangs this season, especially early on. They seemed to smooth CHRISTA L AM | MUSTANG NE WS things out over the past weekend, PLATED | Senior outfielder Zack Zehner leads the Cal Poly baseball team with 16 RBIs so far this season. but the woes returned. As a team,

Cal Poly has committed 23 errors in 13 games, many of which have led to unearned runs. Cal Poly was able to put runs on the board in the fourth and sixth innings, but only one apiece. San Jose State limited the Mustangs to just six hits, quieting an offense that put up 31 runs in the past weekend. Junior designated hitter Mark Mathias was the only Mustang with multiple hits, tallying a single and a double, bringing his batting average up to .407. Senior outfielder Zack Zehner and sophomore outfielder Kevin Morgan batted in the two Cal Poly runs. Zehner leads the Mustangs with 16 RBIs on the season. Freshman starter Jarred Zill picked up the loss, giving up four hits and four runs — none of which were earned — in three

innings of work. Cal Poly (4-9) has not started the season the way it would have liked, but it will get a chance to right the ship this weekend. The Mustangs return to Baggett Stadium to face Sacramento State in a four-game series. After the series against TCU earlier in the season was cancelled due to snow, a Thursday game was added to the series against the Hornets. The Mustangs’ schedule gets no easier from here on. After the Sacramento State series, Cal Poly will host a three-game series against No. 14 USC before going on the road for series against No. 30 Oregon State and Big West powerhouse Cal State Fullerton. The opening game against Sacramento State (8-6) is set to begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

OPINION | 9

The new Face of MLB: An all-around great guy

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Amelia Parreira is a journalism junior and Mustang News sports columnist. These views do not necessarily reflect the editorial coverage of Mustang News. It’s the final moment of the World Series. The crowd grows completely silent, fingers crossed and eyes clenched shut. The Giants are just a strike away from the national title. Finally, a fastball makes its way past the bat and into catcher Buster Posey’s glove, ending the series and sending the entire Giants fanbase into a joyful outburst. With this, Posey rushes over to the mound with a smile plastered across his face

and embraces the pitcher with a big bear hug. I have witnessed this three times in the past five years, and each time I realize it’s moments like these that simply make me love Posey. And now here he is today as the new “Face of MLB,” announced last month after fan votes were tallied. While there are many major league players who deserve the title, Posey deserves it the most. ESPN reporters have even said that Posey is the new Derek Jeter. However, to me, he is better than that. While Jeter is known as an overconfident “ladies man,” Posey is a much more down-to-earth, happily married father of two, which shows his sense of responsi-

bility and selflessness. I don’t know about you, but that earns him extra points in my book. Posey is also someone not only fans look up to, but someone fellow players admire as well. A recent article on the Giants website tells about how 24-year-old catcher Andrew Susac looks up to Posey as a role model both on and off the field. Despite the minimal playing time Susac got in previous seasons, he loves being a part of the team for the mere fact of being alongside such a great mentor. Of course, Posey has much more to show than just his personal aspects. He wouldn’t have made it this far in his baseball career if it weren’t for his incredible playing abilities.

Posey has not only found success as a Giant, though. After his last season playing ball for Florida State, he was named the 18th-best prospect for the major league, while he had also previously been named an AFLAC All-American. Along with that, he received multiple awards, including the 2008 Golden Spikes award. This was only the beginning for Posey. After signing with the San Francisco Giants in 2009, Posey was a fireball both at bat and behind the plate, earning the title of AFL Rising Star and then Rookie of the Year one year later. Posey would then move on to play in two All-Star games, win an MVP award, receive the honor of a Hank Aaron award

and so much more. After a painful 2012 collision at home plate left Posey with torn ankle ligaments and a broken leg, many were left unsure that Posey’s successful career could continue with ease. However, with a lot of hard work, patience and perseverance, the young catcher pulled through and became better than ever. Later, he would be named the 2012 Comeback Player of the Year. He achieved all of these amazing accomplishments before the age of 27 (and not to mention without the use of performance enhancing substances), which makes it all even more breathtaking. I could go on for hours, but I think I’ve made my point. Congrats, Posey!

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SPORTS | 12

Lucky No.7: Men’s hoops enters Big West tourney in familiar spot Stephan Teodosescu @steodosescu

The No. 7 seed. A regular season finale loss to UC Santa Barbara. A rematch against the Gauchos in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament. You’d be excused if you’re feeling a bit of deja vu, because the last time this all happened was … exactly a year ago. The Cal Poly men’s basketball team (13-15, 6-10 Big West Conference) dropped its final game of the regular season 6456 to the Gauchos (18-12, 115) this past Saturday. UC Davis’ victory over UC Irvine later in the night secured Cal Poly’s rematch with UC Santa Barbara in the conference tournament quarterfinals. In 2014, this exact story played out in the final weeks leading up to the NCAA Tournament. The Gauchos, who earned the Big West’s No. 2 seed in the tourney, blew out the Mustangs in the regular season finale. But No. 7 Cal Poly returned the favor five days later with a 69-38 romp of UC Santa Barbara in the quarterfinals en route to its first-ever Big West Tournament championship. In 2015, it’s shaping up to be more of the same. Last season, Cal Poly became the first team in the Big West Tournament’s 39-year history to win it all from the seventh seed. The Mustangs went on to knock off Texas Southern in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before being ousted by No. 1 seed Wichita State in the second round. Can the Mustangs repeat the madness? Cal Poly will certainly have to play better than the way it finished conference play, according to head coach Joe Callero.

“We have yet to play our best basketball or best basketball game of the year,” Callero said at Tuesday’s press conference. Excluding the hauntingly similar circumstances between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara’s matchup, the resemblance between this year’s campaign and last year’s is still striking: • This year’s team and last year’s finished Big West play at 6-10 • This year, the Mustangs enter postseason play having won only three of their final nine regular season games. Last year, they won two of their last nine • This year, Cal Poly got expectedly swept by UC Davis (the Aggies were the best team in the Big West with a 24-5 overall record). Last year, it got embarrassingly swept by UC Davis (the Aggies were the worst team in the conference with nine total wins) • This year, Cal Poly is in that familiar No. 7 seed with its rival sitting at No. 2. As we know, the same thing happened last year But there are two major differences between 2013-14 and 2014-15, and they could prove to undo the Mustangs come this weekend. The first is the loss of former forward Chris Eversley, who anchored Cal Poly on offense and was named tournament MVP last season. The second is that pesky UC Davis team. Eversley, who now plays professionally overseas, led Cal Poly with 13.5 points per game and 31 minutes played per game last season. This season, the Mustangs have junior guard David Nwaba leading the charge at 11.8 points per contest, along with several others averaging double-digits, but he’s struggled to find the court due to injury and illness the last few weeks.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NE WS ROAD TO REPEAT | Senior guard Maliik Love will look to lead Cal Poly to a repeat performance of its unexpected championship last season.

Under Callero, the Mustangs have historically been a lowscoring, slow-tempo team, so no individual usually stands out on the scoresheet from year to year. But Eversley was able to come alive in the Big West tourney. Scoring droughts late in games have plagued Cal Poly all season, and especially so in Big West matchups. A guy like Eversley to go to down the stretch could prove to be the difference in March. The Mustangs average less than 59 possessions per 40 minutes this season — ranking them 347th out of 351 Division I programs in that category — meaning any sort of swoon deep in a game could be lethal because they don’t have the offensive firepower to come back. The other difference between last year’s run and this one’s is UC Davis’ turnaround from a season ago. The Aggies were left out of the eight-team con-

ference tournament in 2013-14 but captured the No. 1 seed with a dominant regular season this time around. The main reason is Corey Hawkins’ 20.6 points per game and the rest of the team’s shooting from the floor. UC Davis leads all squads, connecting on 49.5 percent of its field goals, whereas Cal Poly is the Big West’s worst team in that category, shooting at a 39.1 percent clip. The Big West always features parity in inter-conference play, but this year the Aggies are certainly looking like a midmajor NCAA Tournament team. They’ve got the record, the devastating outside shooting and, did I mention, Corey Hawkins? He leads the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (49.3 percent) by the way. For Cal Poly, the Mustangs will first have to get past UC Santa Barbara and its own star

in senior center Alan Williams if they’d like a shot at UC Davis. But that’s what we wrote a year ago, and look how that turned out. “Both (UC Santa Barbara head coach) Bob Williams and I are in complete agreement on one thing,” Callero said. “There are zero points given to us from last year and zero points taken away from last year. There’s zero influence from what happened last year.” To think on the bright side, if you’re a Cal Poly fan, this season’s team is, by most measures, better. Last season’s squad finished the year below .500 even with four straight playoff wins. If the Mustangs repeat as Big West Tournament champs this season, they will be one game over .500 entering the NCAA Tournament. The Mustangs are also outscoring opponents (by 1.3 points per game) vs. last year’s minus-0.6

point differential. And despite its 6-10 Big West record, Cal Poly has been within striking distance in many of its 10 losses. The Mustangs only lost two of those matchups by double digits. “We feel like we can play with anyone on our conference,” junior forward Brian Bennett said. “On any given night anyone can upset anyone.” So, if your memory serves you correctly, you wouldn’t bet against Cal Poly. You don’t want to say you didn’t see it coming if the Mustangs pull off another Cinderella run, but the road to get there might be a bit tougher this time around. The No. 2 Mustangs and No. 7 Gauchos will tip off Thursday at approximately 8:30 p.m. at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Rafael Salinas contributed to this article.